Runaway
by Lady Ifrit
Summary: All they had was each other. What they needed was to survive. East City, they hoped, would be the salvation the two brothers were searching for. Dark themes, AU
1. Prolougue

Runaway

Prologue/Teaser

It was a sunny day when it happened. Blue, clear skies, one of the warmest days of the year the weatherman had said, with enough cool breezes to stay comfortable. Tai had never thought that such horrible things should happen on days like those. Days like those were meant to be for the good memories, not things like that. What had his English teacher called it? When they'd been analysing those poems? Oh yes, pathetic fallacy, that's what should have occurred. It should have been a dark day for that sort of thing to happen – ominous clouds, at least – but, instead; the shock of his life had taken place on a sunny day, one he'd thought to be as normal as any other. Tai still couldn't believe it – was still hoping someone would wake him up and tell him he was dreaming and pull him out of it. It just wasn't right. Matt would never –

But that's what the policeman had said, hadn't he? When he'd pulled Matt out of the café he'd been working at, where Tai had first met him, because Matt had asked that he not make a scene. So he'd taken him to the car and said those dreadful words instead.

Tai didn't think even the policeman had been expecting it. The man had walked in for a cup of coffee, and Sally's coffeehouse had a very good reputation for quick service and good quality. It seemed that he and Sally knew each other and so they'd chatted as she served and he waited in the line. He'd been working nights he said and now he was on patrol. Another day of it and he'd be allowed some vacation time. Then Matt had turned around from his last order to serve him and they'd both just looked at each other, only there hadn't seemed like anything was wrong then – at least by Matt's face because he just looked like he was patient and waiting for the man to say what he wanted. But then the man had said his name, when he shouldn't have known, and there'd been a tone in his voice. Tai had never really been good with differentiating tones of voice and he tended to take the things people said at face value, unless he was quite close to the other person. But he'd known straight away that there was something wrong about that tone.

'Yamato…Ishida?' the man had questioned, intense stare still locked on the blond behind the serving counter. Matt had really looked at the man then, taking in his uniform, eyes wide with so many emotions that Tai couldn't possibly pin them down. He just knew that none of them were good. A nod and then,

'Is this…about that? Th-then please, c-can we n-not do it…in here? Where e-everyone can h-hear?' Matt's voice had dropped to something too close to a terrified whisper for Tai to be entirely happy with that man talking to him. And he'd never heard the normally clam, confident boy to stutter like that. As far as Tai knew, Matt didn't _do_ stuttering. So when the policeman had led his friend out of the café, Matt's quick, whispered apology to Sally floating behind him, Tai had followed, insistent in his demand to know what was going on. But they'd ignored him and when they'd got to the car, the man had opened the door as a clear indication for Matt to get in. But first he'd held him still with a large hand on one of his shoulders and looked extremely sombre at his next words. Those words. Spoken in a calm, grave tone.

'Yamato Ishida, you are under arrest for the suspicion of the murder of your father, Hiroaki Ishida.'

Tai hadn't heard the rest of it, too busy staring at his friend – who in turn had turned his gaze down at the ground below his feet and avoiding meeting anyone's eyes – in shock. As the feeling of hurt and betrayal had crept into his heart, Tai tugged a sheet of denial over them. No, they were wrong. Matt would _never_ do such a thing. _Never_. Even as the blond's avoidance of his gaze whispered that the accusation held truth to the back of his mind, while his heart steadfastly denied those words in relation to his friend. He'd seen how the blond was, gentle and caring to a fault. _Until provoked and wasn't it true that his temper was a sight to behold_, that voice in his head whispered to him – _they'd been in fights often enough, he and Matt, to know that the other boy had a violent side to him._ But look at the way he was around TK – it was clear that the elder blond loved his younger sibling – so kind and caring that it was clear he would do anything that pertained to his brother's happiness. The voice murmured, _would he resort to murder if he thought it would benefit the boy?_ But he knew Matt and he wasn't the sort that would do something like that. _Did he really? How much exactly_ did _he know about his supposed blond-haired friend? He'd never talked about his past, what their life had been like before they'd moved and all those other things that required details. Never talked about his parents, except to say that there was only one, who was away a lot for work purposes. So much so that it looked like that person didn't exist. Had Matt ever even mentioned a name?_ He stood on the sidewalk, feeling helpless and lost, unable to understand the situation at hand or correct it.

He'd been vaguely aware that the policeman had been reading Yamato his rights, while the blond boy had climbed into the back seat of the car. There was a bullet proof screen separating the front and back of the car and, in Tai's opinion, it made Matt look like he'd done something wrong. Like he was guilty and dangerous, and it made Tai angry. Surely it was a false picture. Surely.

It was then Matt had looked up, as the man went to close the back door of the car. His face, lined with desperation, turned to Tai, voice pleading. 'Please, TK – he'll be finishing school soon – can you pick him up? Can you take care of him for a while? Tell him I'll back as soon as I can – I won't leave him alone. Tell him that he can use what's in the box.' The car was starting and Matt was speaking through the tinted glass, voice raised in panic. 'Please? He's just a kid. Tell him – .' And they were driving away, Tai standing dumbly in the smoke from the exhaust pipe. Belatedly, he shouted,

'Don't worry about him. And my dad – he's a lawyer – I'll get him to the station. He'll fix this!' With that, he turned to the direction of his house, thanking God he didn't live too far away from either school, and ran as fast as his athletic legs would go. 'I don't know what's going on, Matt, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it and make it right again.'

* * *

A/N: I'd just like to say that I do actually like Mr Ishida in the anime - but I needed him to be a plot-device, you know? Anyway, I hope you like this and please review. This is one of the first fanfics I'm putting up and constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1

Warnings: dark themes, not really there BL (the only if you really squint type) could be mistaken as really clicky friendship between Tai and Matt.

Disclaimer: Not mine

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Chapter 1

Every city in the world has its share of the poor and homeless. East City was no different. It had its slums, its high crime areas, its dirty alleyways full of the destitute and dispossessed. And now it had two more. Two more – too young to be in such a desperate situation; one all of eleven and the other all of fourteen. But youth is often resilient and the pair hadn't come to this lively, big city, larger than anything they had ever seen before, with such a bleak outlook. This wasn't their last resort – a ditch to lie in after everything else had failed them – but their hope. A new chance; bright and shining. This new place, this new bustling city could and would offer them a new life and safety in its vastness – a place they could, hopefully, come to call home. All they had to do was find a way to get by.

They were old enough to know, in theory at least, what was needed to live in this day and age, even if they weren't the most experienced. But they'd had their share of grief and this was where they'd run to, in order to get away from it. The past was full of shadows and it wouldn't do to get caught. Especially by the police. They were young and it would be easy to get picked up by some well-meaning officer of the law (or maybe just a security guard) who might see fit to take them on a little trip to the local police station just for being where they shouldn't be. And if that happened, they might find out what had really happened, what they had done, which meant all the hardships they had endured to get this far would be for nothing and...No! They couldn't think like that. This was their chance and they wouldn't waste it. They wouldn't be on the streets forever. There was hope for the future and all they had to do was reach for it.

"Come on, TK. Let's sleep here for tonight. Tomorrow – well, we'll see about that tomorrow, yeah?"

* * *

"So, we had a new kid at school today. He was really nice. I had to show him around."

"Yeah? What was his name? You got a new member for your tween gang now, Kari?"

"Ha ha. His name's Takeru – TK for short. He just moved from somewhere in the country. He's not a hick though, but apparently he's a bit poor. He's, like, one of those people who doesn't need the latest stuff to be cool – like, it's all in the attitude. Everyone wanted to be his friend, but he totally picked us."

"…Right. That interesting, huh? So, how come you're home late? You don't have any clubs today."

"We went to Sally's café after school – the place is amazing! His brother works there, you know. You should come too; his brother's your age, and really hot. We're going to help TK find a job too, because he feels like he should do something to help his family. Anyway, how did your football practice go?"

"I'm not sure I like you calling someone my age 'hot'. You should stick to your tween category. And, of course, as the star player, I played to my usual, amazingly high standards – "

"Ugh, Tai-nii, you have such a big head…."

And that's how he first heard about them. Of course, when his little sister couldn't stop waxing poetic about the new boy and his hot older brother at the newly discovered 'amazing' café, he couldn't help but get curious. So, one day, he took up Kari's suggestion and tagged along, his sister's group mingling with his own, as they headed to the café not far from their school.

He'd gotten the chance to talk to Takeru as well. He really was a sweet kid – so painfully earnest and down-to-earth that it was hard not to like him. Polite, pragmatic, open and friendly. He'd wanted to take the boy under his wing almost immediately and he could see what Kari had meant, all those times she'd talked about him.

"I've heard a lot about you." He'd said when they were properly introduced. The boy had blushed at that, endearingly, and ducked his head to hide his face under that mop of sunshine coloured hair.

"I've heard a lot about you too. Kari says you're really good at football?"

The rest of the group had groaned at those words. Football was his passion and they'd all heard him talk about it a million times before, fervent like a poet who had met his muse. And this was a fresh set of ears; so of course, Taichi could start right at the beginning.

"Well, you know, I've been playing football since I was, like, two years old. I'm a natural talent. Totally blasted through the little league and…"

"Tai! Ugh, God, shut up!" That was a chorus, from every single one of his friends within hearing range. TK had laughed, good-naturedly, and said that it was ok, he could brag, uh _tell_ him some other time – he was sure it would be interesting. He said he hadn't had the chance to play much sport himself, but basketball seemed like his thing, the few times he had played, and football seemed fun. Maybe Tai could teach him a few tricks?

Of course, Tai had jumped at the opportunity – it would be like having a little brother.

When he was three and his mother pregnant with Kari, he'd asked for a little brother so he could play with him. Of course, when his little sister had been born, he had consoled himself with the exciting prospects of _being_ a big brother – in his head it had translated into 'big boy', with a lots of responsibilities, and the baby would always look up to him. He'd look out for the kid and his sister would do lots of stuff for him and do whatever he said. Well, it hadn't quite turned out that way, but he had to say, Kari was a pretty cool little sister to have, as far as these things went.

It hadn't been that long a walk to get to the café. After all, he and Kari only lived a ten minute walk away from the school that they both went to and Sally's café was another ten minute walk from there.

When they entered it wasn't that busy, since it was between peak hours but there was promise that business would pick up before too long had passed. They found a few tables at the front, near the door and the till where no-one really liked to sit, because it wasn't as private and made themselves comfortable as some of the younger ones made their way to the till to take their orders and chat to the blond behind the counter who Tai felt he could safely assume was TK's brother.

"Come on, Tai-nii. You have to meet him." She dragged him after her and leaned on the polished surface of the counter near Takeru and nudged him. The young blond smiled back shyly and turned to his taller counterpart across the bar.

"Aniki, this is Kari's elder brother, Taichi. And the others you haven't met are Sora, Jyou, Izzy and Ken. I've made a lot friends at school." There was an earnest expression on his young face again and it made Tai want to ruffle the kid's hair. The elder blond smirked a little and did it for him. Then he looked up at them all and Tai thought _he really is pretty like Kari said_. He was tall and slender and looked delicate in way that Tai hadn't realised a boy could pull off. And it was strange but, there was something shy and wary about him, even as he returned their greetings and introduced himself.

"Hey. I'm Yamato."

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A/N: Sorry for taking ages - I tried to make it longer, but the scene was ridiculously hard to write and it seemed to want to stop there. Please review and concrit would be lovely. :)


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